


A Host of New Issues

by loveandallthat



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Drinking, Host Clubs, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-19
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-12-04 00:11:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11543352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveandallthat/pseuds/loveandallthat
Summary: Host club AU. Will and Derek are rival hosts at a one of the top host clubs in the city. It's unconventional work, but it's a great living if you're good at it, and they're some of the best. Will could be even better, he thinks, if he didn't spend so much time being kept awake by the drunk man who lived next door who seemed to be on an even weirder schedule than Will was.For NurseyDex Week day 3: Alternate Universe





	A Host of New Issues

**Author's Note:**

> Not beta read. Please don't hesitate to point out mistakes.
> 
> Based on two prompts from [dolleye](http://dolleye.tumblr.com/) that I hoarded selfishly for the right moment. This is not a perfectly accurate depiction of a host club!!! I westernized it, for sure.
> 
> "A host club (ホストクラブ) is similar to a hostess club, except that female customers pay for male company."
> 
> "Male hosts pour drinks and will often flirt with their clients, more so than their female counterparts. The conversations are generally light-hearted; hosts may have a variety of entertainment skills, be it simple magic tricks or charisma with which to tell a story. Some host clubs have a dedicated stage for a performance, usually a dance, comedy sketch, etc."
> 
> "Pay is usually determined by commission on drink sales with hosts often drinking far past a healthy limit, usually while trying to hide their drunkenness."
> 
>  
> 
> [(Full Wikipedia article)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Host_and_hostess_clubs#Host_clubs)

They’re not one of  _ those  _ places, Will tells anybody, if for some reason he has to tell them where he works nights. Or if he’s just drunk enough that they get it out of him, though he doesn’t drink much if he doesn’t have to, these days. Anyway, they’re not one of those places; they don’t advertise on the street to get unsuspecting tourists to come in. 

Will works at one of the best host bars in the city and… even still, he feels weird about it, sometimes. So he doesn’t like it when people make a big thing about it.

It really takes away from the fact that he knows he worked his way up to popularity in a uniquely challenging job, entertaining--what’s the phrase? “Guys, gals, and non-binary pals”--as a server, an entertainer, and when necessary, as an escort. A lot of it was dramatically outside of his comfort zone, and now he was competing every month for the top spot, the “employee-of-the-month” position, which is, of course, measured in revenue only. 

He trades the title back and forth with Derek Nurse, codename Nursey. Even the employees don’t necessarily know each other’s real names, but Derek had introduced himself as soon as he’d met Will, who’d stuttered out a, “William Poindexter,” instead of “Dex” and now realized they had this kind of relationship, a real name relationship. It wasn’t nearly as all-encompassing as their rivalry.

Will tends to win people over with a generally macho act, seeming like a “man’s man” though he doesn’t like that phrase. He doesn’t like to seem like he is overcompensating for the fact that he isn’t strictly speaking straight. He has plenty of hobbies and past jobs that might fall under that dumb stereotype anyway, but they are just a part of his personality, not a front he’s putting up.

Derek gets them over with the sensitive guy who listens act. A patron had once drunkenly confided to Will that it was mostly in the eyes, and Will almost argued that it was more--then he realized he’d definitely been drinking too much with his table, who hadn’t taken kindly to his usual sidestepping techniques. It’s important for the employees to stay somewhat sober, after all.

But their manager insists that the real money comes from nights like tonight, nights when a large party requests both of them, because there’s a balancing act with the two of them together. Making sure the customers have a good time, from every angle.

It’s definitely true that Will is in his element tonight, and he can feel it. The group is mostly women, which happens a lot, often for bachelorette parties. Will knows at least three people will mention heteronormativity to him when the night is over, not that he disagrees. But they’re really a good group, and Will reminds himself not to get sucked into the conversations sometimes, especially with the bride-to-be. She isn’t falling for his bullshit, any of the things he’s encouraged to say, but doesn’t enjoy. When he lets his real personality slip, though, she responds with a biting wit.

They’re supposed to pay the most attention to the bride in these situations, since the party is really hers, but Will knows this is a little unusual. Derek has been covering the rest of the girls, who seem completely taken in by his charms and the champagne he keeps suggesting until they agree. It’s a celebration, after all.

When the bride relocates to the middle of the group, it divides the situation and brings them back to a more even split, subtly assessing the personalities of the people in the group to see who might respond better to which host. And who likes to have both of their attention turned on them at once. There’s a woman like that among this group, not even the bride. They indulge her anyway, Derek’s hand hot on Will’s lower back as he does everything he can to present a united front, as they both ask her questions and listen intently and try to tell her to order more drinks, more food, whatever she may like. She keeps making them drink with her, too, the same way as the bride, and Will realizes all at once that she’s the maid of honor, the bride’s sister. Everything makes a lot more sense.

Derek probably knew that the whole time.

It’s not like it matters--they  _ clean up _ . It’s one of the best nights of the entire year so far, maybe even the past few. Will’s proud, really, he is.

He gets home still drunk, the night coming back to him in flashes--of Derek’s smile, of his arms, hands, shoulders. His eyes--Will may have very nearly argued with a customer that they weren’t his only charm point, but that didn’t mean they weren’t worthy of notice.

Will has work in the afternoon. He’s not dumb enough to schedule himself for morning shifts after host work, but he can’t afford not to have two jobs, at least until he pays off his loans.

The problem is, whoever lives in the apartment next to his, on the other side of a paper-thin wall, gets home later than him almost every night, and then turns on music, sometimes singing or talking aloud.

Honestly, it probably wouldn’t be a big deal if this building had heard of insulation. Will knows this, spent his entire time as a teenager working around the house, and can understand that it probably isn’t actually his neighbor’s fault that they can so clearly hear each other.

But Will has an important presentation to give tomorrow, and he wants to wake up early to practice, and to make sure that he looks and feels as good as possible beforehand. So whatever rhythmic-sounding speech is coming out of his neighbor’s mouth… well, it’s not actually interfering that much with Will’s relaxation, as much as his own stress is, but it’s nice to have someone else to blame.

So he does what he promised that he would never do, and he knocks on the door right next to his.

“Coming,” he hears from inside the room, as music turns off and footsteps approach. He steels his resolve.

The door opens, and Derek fucking Nurse is on the other side.

“Will?” he asks, frowning. “What are you doing in my building?”

“Shit,” Will replies. He sighs, forcibly lowers his tense shoulders, and says, “I live here. Next door. And you’re, apparently, my neighbor who for some reason always talks or sings to himself.”

Derek pauses for a while. “It’s poetry. Sometimes you have to say it aloud.”

“You’re writing poetry loudly?” Will despairs.

Derek laughs, which isn’t the response that Will was looking for. “The writing part is quiet.”

Will clenches his jaw for just a moment. “I need sleep tonight. I have something important to do tomorrow.”

“Shit, sorry,” Derek says, and Will remembers that even if they’re rivals, he’s actually a decent guy, overall. “Although… I mean, I’d rather settle this peacefully, but aren’t I usually a lot louder than I am tonight?”

That gets to Will. “You’re arguing that I should have been mad earlier?”

“Just wondering if maybe it’s not my fault you can’t sleep,” Derek responds with a grin. It’s different than the one he affects at work. It’s a hundred times more powerful.

“My presentation tomorrow could get me a full-time job and let me quit the host bar,” Will admits.

“But you love it there!” Derek protests. Will hadn’t realized that he’d noticed. It’s true, as strange as it may be. Will learned more there than he’s learned at his day job, despite the fact that it was related to his college major.

“I think I’m ready to move on. And have nights free. Date, even.” Will hasn’t told anybody else that, though most people didn’t even know that he had the second job.

“I work best at night. Um, hence the writing. Which I really am sorry about. But a day job sounds wrong for me.”

“It didn’t really bother me,” Will says. “I couldn’t always hear every word, but it sounded good.”

“Really?” Derek’s eyes get bright. “I could read you something now, something that might actually help you sleep. Come on, let’s go to your apartment.”

“Inviting yourself over?” Will jokes.

“Well, you said you wanted to start dating, and there’s no time like the present. Especially since after tomorrow we may not be able to see each other at work anymore.”

Will’s actually weirdly touched by the faith in him demonstrated by his long-term coworker, but--wait a minute.

“I can’t date you! We keep completely different hours!”

Derek laughs at him again. “That’s your only opposition?”

“Well, um. Yeah,” Will replies weakly.

“I think we can work something out. Bed,” Derek says, seeming to abandon the idea of taking Will back to his own place. “What time do you have to get up?”

“Ten, probably,” Will answers, as he’s manhandled into an unfamiliar bed. Of course he’s already in his pajamas, and somehow he gets comfortable pretty quickly. And Derek gets a chair and puts it next to the bed and starts to read. “This one’s going to be published soon,” Derek whispers, “so don’t tell anyone I’m reading it to you...”

For years after that night, Derek insists to anyone who’ll listen that Will aced the presentation because of a kiss for good luck right before he ran out the door. But when they’re alone, he reminds Will that he knew all along that he’d be amazing.

**Author's Note:**

> I almost never write AUs.
> 
> Thank you for all the lovely comments on [my day 1 fic](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11523792) and for reminding me that there's such a thing as a joke that's too obscure with [my day 2 fic](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11534277).
> 
> Please comment anything! Especially criticism. Even if it's not constructive. But also any thoughts are accepted, tangential ones included.
> 
> Find me on tumblr as [loveandallthat](http://loveandallthat.tumblr.com/)! I take prompts for tons of fandoms and pairings.


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